KC Chiefs announce several roster moves before Week 2

On Tuesday afternoon, the Kansas City Chiefs announced a handful of moves, the most significant being the placement of rookie cornerback Trent McDuffie on injured reserve.

The McDuffie news is disappointing, but not a complete surprise, as he exited the game against the Arizona Cardinals with a strained hamstring. Andy Reid also said this morning that the rookie cornerback “will struggle to make it to the game” on Thursday against the Chargers.

The Chiefs were already thin with established players at the cornerback spot as L’Jarius Sneed, Rashad Fenton, and Chris Lammons are the only veteran players on the depth chart, and the latter is more of a special teams ace than a defensive player. Similar to this past Sunday, fellow rookie Jaylen Watson is expected to take McDuffie’s place, but another rookie Joshua Williams could also see increased playing time due to this move.

The KC Chiefs placed cornerback Trent McDuffie on injured reserve and signed several players to the practice squad. They also activated a couple linebackers

Among other moves announced by the team, linebackers Jack Cochrane and Elijah Lee were activated from the practice squad. Lee was also elevated last week and saw primarily special teams snaps. In addition, they signed kicker Matt Ammendola, cornerback Dicaprio Bootle, and Corey Coleman to the practice squad.

Safety James Wiggins was also released from the practice squad. The Ammendola signing was initially reported yesterday but was officially announced today.

One move that caught my attention was activating a second linebacker from the practice squad. Last week, only Elijah Lee was activated at that position, along with wide receiver Daurice Fountain, but the Chiefs also brought up rookie Jack Cochrane today. The Chiefs did not have a linebacker listed on the injury report yesterday and did not cut a linebacker in recent days, so it’s unknown why they chose to bring up two players at the same position and not an additional defensive back.

The Chiefs may end up swapping Cochrane for cornerback Dicaprio Bootle before Thursday night or they could end up utilizing more linebackers against Los Angeles. This may also be a special teams move as one or both of Jaylen Watson and Joshua Williams will likely see fewer snaps on those plays. It’s also possible there is another corresponding move to come later today or tomorrow that shines more light on this specific transaction.